During the final weeks before Intel's Nehalem release date, we have covered almost any motherboard that will be simultaneously available as the platform launches. Today we'll accentuate on Biostar's T-Power X58, yet another LGA1366 mainboard that will help Core i7 buyers. The board is pretty much standard, it has a 12-phase power design, 6x DDR3 1333/1600/2000 slots, 3x PCI-E 16x SLI and CrossFireX capable slots, and 6x SATA + 2x eSATA + 1 IDE ports. The T-Power X58 also features a heat-pipe cooling system, on-the-fly power/reset buttons, and a LED POST code display. There's also a 7.1 integrated audio, two 10/100/1000 LANs, and two FireWire ports.

this has to be the cleanest and most regular looking x58 yet. i like it. i wish some of the other ones werent so goofy though.

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IMO the others we have seen are the most extreme versions of each brand, while this one is closer to the mainstream area. Not saying it's mainstream, but not extreme either. I'm sure that simpler versions of other brands will ship on time for Nehalem release.

IMO the others we have seen are the most extreme versions of each brand, while this one is closer to the mainstream area. Not saying it's mainstream, but not extreme either. I'm sure that simpler versions of other brands will ship on time for Nehalem release.

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Yeah the other brands should have something simpler looking soon, but for now, I think they want to break out of the gates with the wildest thing they can.

I’m still not sure what Nehalem CPU and motherboard pricing will be like here in the states but I know I can buy 1GB DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) 1.5V modules for $34.99 USD now. that’s not spectacular but its not too bad. I mean it could be worse.

As long as the Core i7 920 isn’t too expensive ~$350 USD and an X58 motherboard can be had for around the same or less I’m good to go.

Then again, I might just wait for less expensive motherboards though. Investing in a platform with low OC potential shouldn’t necessarily be expensive.

not sure why anyone would want anything above 1,333MHz for the Core i7 when even the best motherboards as of right now are limited to a max overclock of what seems to be 1,333MHz.

the cheapest motherboard will cost £240 (Intel) add the cheapest DDR3 for anther £235+ (18,000mhz/1.7V-2.1V and over so far) Plus i7 and you roughly got a total of nearly £800 pounds.

For the same amount of money I could build a better/faster PC, the whole thing (complete Computer vs CPU-Motherboard-MEM) heck I may even have some money left for a monitor (15"/17")

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LOL 1333Mhz is the STOCK FSB nowadays. Almost any P35/45, X38/48 and derivatives can do close to 2000Mhz FSB as long as you have good memory and good AIR cooling. 1900Mhz (475x4) FSB is even easier to achieve.

Of course the price is high, it's new. I would even go and say it's not worth it right now for the money. BUT in no way you can build a faster PC. Not for 800, neither for a lot more. There's nothing faster out there now.

Well, it looks like Biostar is putting those Abit engineers to good use at least.
Hopefully Biostar will find this market worth while and continue making decent boards for those that can't afford products from the big three.

Actually on second thought I might not build an Intel Core i7 920 based system. I had planned to build for some time now but the US economy is really starting to concern me. I can hold on to my money, save, pay down my CC and call it a year.

Besides, I already have a Core 2 Quad Q6600 / P35 based system as my main rig although my Wife could use something faster then what she currently telecommutes with.

Or maybe I’ll just wait it out a bit. Instead of going for an X58 motherboard I can wait for P55 boards or something similar.

so your saying that these x58 motherboard's can support only 1333mhz ??? is that because of the delay in motherboard making or is that just the RAM speed they want to stick with ??

or are they going to be making more motherboards which can go over 1333mhz and probably over than 2000mhz ??
one more thing, how much RAM does these x58 motherboards support, i mean is it maximum 8GB or 12 GB etc ??

so your saying that these x58 motherboard's can support only 1333mhz ??? is that because of the delay in motherboard making or is that just the RAM speed they want to stick with ??

or are they going to be making more motherboards which can go over 1333mhz and probably over than 2000mhz ??
one more thing, how much RAM does these x58 motherboards support, i mean is it maximum 8GB or 12 GB etc ??

so your saying that these x58 motherboard's can support only 1333mhz ??? is that because of the delay in motherboard making or is that just the RAM speed they want to stick with ??

or are they going to be making more motherboards which can go over 1333mhz and probably over than 2000mhz ??
one more thing, how much RAM does these x58 motherboards support, i mean is it maximum 8GB or 12 GB etc ??

thnx

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Probably a bit of everything, but IMO mostly to reduce the price of the new platform, both for them and the consumer. People is stupid and if they supported DDR3 2000Mhz, people would: 1) want to make the rig with the maximum Mhz RAM possible. 2) Complain about the price of such RAM. 3) Probably lots of people would criticize the use of DDR3 2000Mhz for its 0-5% performance difference with DDR3 1333Mhz once benchmarks come out. Bear in mind Nehalem has integrated memory controler and that's a really big improvement. Core2 architecture has been superior DESPITE this fact, primarily because AMD failed to make an improvement and because Intel's fab advantage is so big.

Well, it looks like Biostar is putting those Abit engineers to good use at least.
Hopefully Biostar will find this market worth while and continue making decent boards for those that can't afford products from the big three.

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never knew some of the displaced engineers went to biostar... I loved all my abit boards, so I guess Ill have to watch biostar from now on